Tool cabinet

ABSTRACT

A tool cabinet including an upper cover, a bottom board, a case body and a shelf accessory. The case body includes rotatably interconnected case boards, which are foldable with each other. The upper cover and the bottom board are loosely rabbetted into the case body. Without disconnecting each case board, each case board can be folded only by pulling out the pin in the upper cover, turning over the upper cover, then taking out the shelf and the upright column, releasing the block rabbeting, and folding the case boards. It is done after the shelf and the upright column are placed into a predetermined space of the right board and the back board during the folding process. It is very simple and convenient. Hence, it is convenient to carry the tool cabinet after it is folded. In another embodiment, a tool cabinet is also constructed with hinged panels and doors that after assembly can be easily folded into a compact unit for storage or shipping.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation-in-part of U.S. application Ser. No.11/480,861, filed on Jul. 6, 2006. The present application claimspriority under 35 USC 119 to Chinese Patent Application No.2005-10050646.1 filed on Jul. 8, 2005, and U.S. Ser. No. 11/480,861,filed Jul. 6, 2006, the entire contents of which applications are herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to a tool cabinet, especially a toolcabinet that can be folded and assembled conveniently with pin jointmember loosely interconnecting each face board.

DESCRIPTION OF BACKGROUND ART

A tool cabinet is mainly used for uniform management of materials in alltrades. The main structure of the conventional tool cabinet is typicallyone whole body, which is heavy and not easy to carry. There arecomplicated structures, such as mosaic assembly type, screw lock typeetc, but it is disadvantageous in using tool to disconnect and assemblethem. For the assembled tool cabinet of large volume, which is not fitfor carrying as a whole, once carrying, it is necessary to disconnect bythe aid of tools at first, then reassemble it by tools to thedestination. It is fussy and time-consuming. On the other hand, when thetool cabinet is free of use, it will still take much space. Hence, itbecomes a new task of design for the current tool cabinet to improvevariability of its combined structure and its compatibility with thespace.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

An object of the invention is to provide a foldable tool cabinet with asimple structure. The tool cabinet can be disconnected and assembledsimply and carried conveniently and also can spare much room free ofuse. To achieve above-mentioned object, a technical solution of anembodiment of the invention is to provide a tool cabinet including anupper cover, a bottom board and a case body. The case body is composedof loosely interconnected case boards with both the upper cover and thebottom board being loosely connected with the case body.

The case body includes four case boards, that is, one front, one back,one left and one right connecting with each other in turn by hinges. Theright board respectively connects with the front on one side and withthe back on the other side. The other side of the back board connectswith the left, and both the front and the left loosely and rotatablyconnect with a door board respectively by the hinges. An upright columnis set at the junction of the two door boards of the case body, whoseupper end and lower end loosely connect with the upper cover and thebottom board respectively. The upper cover and the bottom board, wheretwo single hems are set, loosely connect with the case body by therabbeted block; and further through slots are set on the bottom board,corresponding to the hinges.

L-type notches are respectively set on the front board, the back board,the left board and the right board, corresponding to the said singlehems of the upper cover and the bottom board. When assembling, it isrequired to encase the interior hems of the upper cover and the bottomboard into the L-type notches respectively.

Slot-type hems are set on both sides of the back board and the leftboard, while single hems are set on one side of the front board and theleft board. It is convenient for hinges to be installed on one hand. Inaddition, it also provides more reasonable space for each face board tobe folded. The states of being folded may provide space for the uprightcolumn and its accessories to place.

The upright column is L-type. Corresponding L-type block frames are seton the upper cover and the bottom board in which L-type upright columnis set.

As an improvement of the invention, slot-type interior hems are set onthe upper cover and the bottom board, corresponding to the door boards,so as to make the tool cabinet more closed and aesthetic when the doorboards are closed.

As an improvement of the invention, a shelf is set inside the toolcabinet and several grip blocks are located on the upright column andcase boards, corresponding to the shelf The shelf is reticular and it isenough only to place it into grip blocks when assembling.

As a preferred embodiment of the above-mentioned improvement, severaltransverse L-type strengthening ribs are set on the front board, theback board, the left board and the right board, which can be used asgrip blocks of the shelf at the same time.

As an improvement of the invention, the upper cover loosely androtatably connects with corresponding side of the right board by thehinges. The improvement can make the upper cover fold up and moreconvenient for use.

A further improvement, fixed pin components are set on the side of theupper cover opposite to the hinges. A jack is located on the left board,corresponding to the fixed pin components, which makes the connectionmore stable, that of the upper cover with the front, the back, the leftand the right.

The fixed pin components comprise two fixed seats set at inner side ofthe upper cover on which a locking pin is set. A locating block is seton the locking pin between two fixed seats and a spring is set betweenthe locating block and one of the fixed seats. In addition, a jack isset in the notch of the left board corresponding to the locking pin.When the upper cover is closed on assembling, the locking pinautomatically jumps into the jack of the left board by use of storedpower of the spring. An individual only needs to pull out the lockingpin when the upper cover needs to open.

The fixed pin components can be achieve in this way. The fixed pincomponents comprise an elastic lock buckle set on the notch of the leftboard, trigger piece and lock board located on the elastic lock buckle.The trigger piece is set in the wall board of the notch, and the lockboard goes through the wall board of the notch and is encased and lockedinversely into the block aperture set in the hem of the upper cover. Thelock board can be disengaged with the block aperture when pulled by thetrigger piece.

As an improvement of the invention, several tool slots are set at theinner side of door boards, which is used to hold small articles such astool pieces. Door locks may also be set on the door boards.

The above-mentioned technical solution according to the invention, canrealize that the upper cover is turned over and folded to the back orthe right board, in the condition that the front, the back, the left,the right board, the upper cover and the door board are not detached. Inaddition, the front and the door board connected with it are flat foldedto the right board, while the left and its other door board are flatfolded to the back board, together with the back board horizontallyfolded to the right board. The process before the fold is to pull thepin of upper cover out, turn the upper cover over, then to take theshelf and the upright column out, after that, to release rabbeting ofthe bottom board, then to fold the case boards. During disconnecting, itis done that the shelf and the upright column are placed into apredetermined space of the right and the back board. Duringdisconnecting, it is done that the shelf and the upright column areplaced into a predetermined space of the right and the back board. It isvery simple and convenient for carrying after folded and much space isspared at the same time. The assembly is the inverse process of thefolding steps and it is also simple and convenient.

Further scope of applicability of the present invention will becomeapparent from the detailed description given hereinafter. However, itshould be understood that the detailed description and specificexamples, while indicating preferred embodiments of the invention, aregiven by way of illustration only, since various changes andmodifications within the spirit and scope of the invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art from this detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The present invention will become more fully understood from thedetailed description given hereinbelow and the accompanying drawingswhich are given by way of illustration only, and thus are not limitativeof the present invention, and wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic view of the combined stereo structure of theinvention in the state of the door board closed;

FIG. 2 is schematic view of combined stereo structure of the inventionin the state of the door board opened;

FIG. 3 is schematic view of the rabbeted structure of the upper coverand the case board;

FIG. 4 is schematic view of folding structure of the upper cover looselyconnected to the back board in the invention;

FIG. 5 is enlarged view of part I in FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is schematic view of the structure of the upper cover of theinvention;

FIG. 7 is schematic view of the structure of the front board (leftboard) of the invention;

FIG. 8 is a schematic view of the structure of the right board (backboard) of the invention;

FIG. 9 is schematic view of the structure of the bottom board of theinvention;

FIG. 10 is schematic view of the structure of the upright column of theinvention;

FIG. 11 is schematic view of the structure of the shelf of theinvention;

FIG. 12 is schematic view of the structure of the locking pin of theinvention;

FIG. 13 is schematic view of another structure of the locking pin of theinvention;

FIG. 14 to FIG. 19 are schematic views of folding steps of theinvention;

FIG. 20 is a perspective view of another embodiment of the inventionshowing an assembled cabinet with the doors open and removable shelvesand drawers in place;

FIG. 21 is a perspective, exploded view of the cabinet of FIG. 20;

FIGS. 22A-22H are a series of views which illustrate the steps ofassembling the cabinet; and

FIGS. 23A-23F are a series of views which illustrate the steps offolding the cabinet into a compact unit;

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

As shown in FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, the tool cabinet according to theembodiment of the invention comprises the front board 1, the back board2, the left board 3, the right board 4, the upper cover 5, the bottomboard 6, the door boards 7, the shelf 11 and the L-type upright column8. The structure of the front board 1 is the same as that of the leftboard 3 and the back board 2 and the right board 4. The door lock 71 isset on the door board 7 with several tool slots 72 set at its innerside. One side of the right board 4 loosely and rotatably connects withthe front board I and with the back board 2 on the other side. The otherside of the back board 2 loosely and rotatably connects with the leftboard 3. The above-mentioned loose connection is inwardly rotatableconnection by the hinges 9. As shown in FIG. 7 and FIG. 8, single hems31 are set on one side of the front board 1 and the left board 3.Slot-type hems 41 are set on the back board 2 and the right board 4. Itis convenient to placing hinges 9. On the other hand, it also providesmore reasonable space to fold each face board. The state of being foldedalso may provide space to place the upright column and its otheraccessories. The front board 1 and the left board 3 loosely androtatably connected with a door board 7 by the hinges 9 respectively.The upper cover 5 and the bottom board 6 are block rabbeted with thefour case boards, such as the front 1, the back 2, the left 3 and theright 4. The L-type upright column 8 is set in L-type block frames 51and 61 on the upper cover 5 and bottom board 6, which correspond to thecolumn 8.

As shown in FIGS. 3, 6 and 9, the block rabbeting mode of the uppercover 5 and the bottom board 6 with the four case boards is as follows.Hems 52, 62 are located on the upper cover 5 and bottom board 6. L-typenotches 02 are respectively set on the four case boards, whichcorrespond to the hems 52, 62. When assembling, it is only necessary toencase the hems 52, 62 of the upper cover 5 and the bottom board 6respectively into the L-type notches 02. On assembling, the bottom boardwill be embed into the case body, so it is necessary to go through thehinges from upside to downside and through slot 65 should be set on thebottom board so that the hinges put no effect on the assembling ofbottom board. Slot-type interior hems 73 are set on the upper cover 5and bottom board 6, which correspond to the door boards 7, ensuring toolcabinet is more closed and aesthetic when the door boards are closed.

As shown in FIGS. 7, 8, 10 and 11, according to the example, theinstallment way of the shelf inside the tool cabinet is as follows.Several grip blocks 81 are set on the upright column 8 that correspondto the shelf 11. Several transverse L-type strengthening ribs 03 arerespectively set on the front board 1, the back board 2, the left board3 and the right board 4 which can also be used as grip blocks of theshelf at the same time. The shelf 11 is reticular and the grip blocks 81are L-type. It is enough only to place reticular shelf into grip blockswhen assembling.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are the preferred rabbeting mode of the upper cover of theinvention. The upper cover 5 outwardly, loosely and rotatably connectswith one corresponding side of the right board 4 by the hinges 9. Inthis way, the upper cover is folded up and it is more convenient. Fixedpin components 53 are set on a corresponding side of the upper cover 5opposite to the hinges 9. Jacks 04 are set on the left board 3corresponding to fixed pin components, which make the connection of theupper cover with the four case boards more stable. Alternatively, eachside of the upper cover may also loosely, inwardly and rotatably connectwith the back board by the hinges 9, and correspondingly, it isnecessary to adjust the fixed pin components.

FIG. 12 is an embodiment of the above-mentioned fixed pin components.The fixed pin components comprise two fixed seats 531 set at inner sideof the upper cover and a locking pin 532 set on the seats. A locatingblock 533 is set on the locking pin between two fixed seats 531 and aspring 534 is located between the locating block and one of the fixedseats. A jack 535 is set in the notch 02 of the left board,corresponding to the locking pin. On assembling, when the upper cover isclosed, the locking pin automatically jumps into jack of the left boardby using stored power of the spring. In addition, when the upper coveris opened, it is enough only to pull the locking pin out.

FIG. 13 is another embodiment of the fixed pin components. The fixed pincomponents comprise elastic lock buckle 54 set on the notch 02 of theleft board, trigger piece 541 and lock board 542 located in the elasticlock buckle 54. The trigger piece 541 is set on notch 02. The lock board542 goes through the notch 02 and is encased and locked into the blockaperture 521 set in the hem 52 of the upper cover. The locking board 542can be disengaged with the block aperture 521 when pulled by the triggerpiece 541.

FIGS. 14 to 19 are schematic views of folding steps of the invention.FIG. 14 illustrates a step to release the cover and the board. FIG. 15illustrates a step to remove the upright column and the shelf FIG. 16illustrates a step to release the bottom board. FIG. 17 illustrates astep to flat fold the left board and the door board to the right board.FIG. 18 illustrates a step to flat fold the back board together with thefolded door board to right board. FIG. 19 illustrates a step to flatfold the front board and door board to the right board and to place theshelf and the upright column into inner space of the right board and theback board, then the fold of tool cabinet is finished. The assembly ofthe tool cabinet is an inverse process to the fold steps, so it is alsosimple and convenient.

In the condition that the front, the back, the left, the right board,the upper cover and the door board are not disconnected, the inventioncan realize the upper cover is turned over and folded to the back or theright board with the front and the door board connected with it beingflat folded to the right board, while the left and its other door boardare flat folded to the back board, together with the back boardhorizontally folded to the right board. The process before the fold isto pull the pin of the upper cover out, turn the upper cover over, thento take the shelf and the upright column out, after that, to releaserabbeting of the bottom board, then to fold the case boards. Duringdisconnecting, it is done that the shelf and the upright column areplaced into a predetermined space of the right and the back board. It isvery simple and convenient for carrying after folded and much space isspared at the same time. The assembly is the inverse process of thefolding steps and it is also simple and convenient.

Referring now to FIGS. 20-23, there is illustrated another embodiment ofthe invention for easily folding a cabinet into a compact unit forstorage or shipping and then unfolding and reassembling the unit into acabinet ready for use. In this embodiment, the components are identifiedby reference numerals in the 100 series.

Referring to FIGS. 20 and 21 there is shown a cabinet in a fullyassembled condition, and the cabinet is also shown in an exploded viewto illustrate the assembly of the cabinet. The cabinet is shown with theoptional shelves and/or drawers in place. The cabinet is comprised of abox-like case body having case panels that include a back panel 100joined to a left side panel 108 by a common leaf hinge comprised ofhinge leafs 102, 104 and hinge pin 106. Similarly, the case panelsinclude a right side panel 110 joined to the back panel by hinge leafs112, 114 and hinge pin 116. An upper cover plate 118 is joined to thetop of the back panel 100 by hinge leafs 120, 122 and hinge pin 124, anda bottom board or bottom sole plate 125 is joined to the bottom of theback panel 100 by hinge leafs 126, 128 and hinge pins 130. If desired,the sole plate 124 may be provided with reinforcing members or slats132.

A left door 134 is joined to the left side panel 108 by hinge leafs 136,138 and hinge pin 140 while a right door 142 is joined to the right sidepanel 110 by hinge leafs 144, 146 and hinge pin 148. The left door 134is preferably provided with a vertical reinforcing rib 150, andsimilarly, the right door 142 is provided with a vertical reinforcingrib 151. Each door is provided with a suitable handle 152. To maintainthe rigidity of the cabinet when fully assembled, there is an L-shapedfortifying slat 154 affixed at the four corners where the right sidepanel 110, the left side panel 108, the cover plate 118 and the soleplate 125 meet. The slats 154 may be attached in any suitable manner byremovable fasteners 156 which may be nuts and bolts or screws.

If desired, the cabinet may be provided with removable shelves 158 whichare affixed in any suitable manner to the back panel 100 and the sidepanels 108 and 110. For example, the back panel 100 and side panels 108and 110 can be formed with rows of inwardly extending ledges 109 (seeFIG. 20) positioned at various levels in the panels. The ledges 109 in aselected row provide support for the edges of a shelf 158, which shelfcan be easily moved from one row of ledges to another at a desired levelwithin the assembled cabinet. Of course, the shelves 158 can beremovably affixed within the cabinet in any suitable manner usingfasteners, such as nuts and bolts. Each shelf 158 is designed to receivea drawer carrier 160 which can be removably affixed just beneath theshelf 158 so as to receive a slidable drawer 162 each with a handle 164.

Referring now to FIGS. 22A-22H, a step-by-step process of initiallyassembling the cabinet is illustrated. Starting with back panel 100, theleft side panel 108 is attached using the previously described leafhinge. Then, the right side panel 110 is attached using the leaf hinge.The doors 134 and 142 are then attached, respectively, to the left sidepanel 108 and the right side panel 110 using the leaf hinges. The coverplate 118 if first attached to the back panel 100 using the leaf hingeand then the sole plate 125 is attached using the leaf hinge. Tocomplete the assembly, the fortifying slats 154 are attached to the sidepanels 108, 110 and the cover plate 118 and sole plate 125. If theoptional shelves 158 and/or drawers 162 are to included, they are addedafter complete assembly of the cabinet as just described.

FIGS. 23A-23F illustrate the method of folding the assembled cabinetinto a compact unit for storage or shipping. If used, the shelves 158and drawers 162 must first be removed. Although not shown in FIGS.23A-23F, the fortifying slats 154 must be removed. Then, the cover plate118 can be folded back down against the back of the back panel 100. Eachdoor 134 and 142 is then swung inwardly to rest against the inside ofthe side panels 108 and 110. The sole plate 125 is then swungdownwardly, and the side panels 108 and 1 10, with the doors 134 and 142still attached, are folded inwardly against the back panel 100. Swingingthe sole plate 125 rearwardly until it rests against the back of theback panel 100 completes the folding process of the cabinet into acompact, relatively flat unit as shown in FIG. 23F. In this condition,the cabinet occupies considerably less space for storage or shipping.When it is desired to reassemble the cabinet for use, the just describedsteps are reversed.

Having thus described the invention, it will be obvious that the samemay be varied in many ways. Such variations are not to be regarded as adeparture from the spirit and scope of the invention, and all suchmodifications as would be obvious to one skilled in the art are intendedto be included within the scope of the following claims.

1. A tool cabinet comprising: an upper cover; a bottom board; and a casebody; wherein the case body is composed of loosely interconnected caseboards, and both of the upper cover and the bottom board loosely connectwith the case body.
 2. The tool cabinet according to claim 1, whereinthe case body includes four case boards: one front, one back, one leftand one right connecting with each other in turn by hinges; the rightboard, respectively, connects with the front on one side and with theback on the other side; the other side of the back board connects withthe left; both the front and the left loosely and rotatably connect withdoor boards respectively by the hinges.
 3. A tool cabinet comprising: anupper cover plate; a bottom sole plate and a case body having fourcorners to form a box-like body; wherein the case body is composed ofloosely interconnected case panels, and both of the upper cover and thebottom sole plate loosely connect with the case body.
 4. The toolcabinet according to claim 3 wherein the case body includes three caseboards: one back panel, one left panel and one right panel connected tothe back panel; hinges connect the back panel and the left and rightpanels; left and right doors connect respectively to the left and rightpanels; and hinges connect the left and right doors to the left andright panels.
 5. The tool cabinet according to claim 4 wherein hingesconnect the upper cover plate and the bottom sole plate to the top andbottom respectively of the back panel, whereby the case body, the leftand right doors and the upper cover plate and bottom sole plate arefoldable together to form a compact unit.
 6. The tool cabinet accordingto claim 5 wherein fortifying slats are removably affixed to the fourcorners of the case body when the tool cabinet is fully assembled.
 7. Amethod of assembling and disassembling a tool cabinet so as to create arigid unit in the assembled condition and a compact unit in thedisassembled condition, said method comprising the steps of: providing aback panel, a left side panel, a right side panel, an upper cover plateand a bottom sole plate that form a case body; connecting the left sidepanel and the right side panel to the back panel using hinges; movingthe left side panel and the right side panel forwardly; providing a leftdoor and a right door substantially the same height as the left paneland right panel; connecting the left door to the left panel and theright door to the right door using hinges; moving the left side paneland the right side panel to a position approximately at right anglesforwardly from the back panel; connecting the upper cover plate to theback panel using hinges; moving the upper cover plate over the top ofthe left side panel and the right side panel; connecting the bottom soleplate to the bottom of the back panel using hinges; moving the bottomsole plate beneath the left side panel and the right side panel;connecting fortifying slats to the left side panel, the right sidepanel, the bottom sole plate and the upper sole plate to provide a rigidcabinet.
 8. The method according to claim 7 including the steps of:positioning one or more shelves at the desired level between the leftside panel and the right side panel and in front of the back panel; andsupporting the shelves on the left side panel and the right side panel.9. The method according to claim 8 including the steps of: affixing adrawer carrier beneath a shelf; and placing a slidable drawer in thedrawer carrier.
 10. A method disassembling a tool cabinet so as tocreate a compact unit in the disassembled condition, the tool cabinethaving a back panel, a left side panel, a right side panel, an uppercover plate and a bottom sole plate all connected by hinges andfortifying slats that connect the panels and plates to form a case body,and the tool cabinet also having a left door and a right doorsubstantially the same height as the left panel and right panel andpivotally connected to said right and left panels, said methodcomprising the steps of: removing the fortifying slats from the leftside panel, the right side panel, the bottom sole plate and the uppersole plate; moving the upper cover plate rearwardly until it restsagainst the back of the back panel; moving the left door and the rightdoor inwardly until they rest against the left side panel and the rightside panel, respectively; moving the bottom sole plate downwardly;folding the right side panel with the right door attached inwardlyagainst the back panel; folding the left side panel with the left doorattached inwardly against the back panel; and folding the bottom soleplate rearwardly until it rests against the back of the back panel toform a compact unit.